I’ve been preparing artwork for an upcoming gallery show. I will have several pieces on display at The Art of Nature Show at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History, this is an annual exhibit sharing the work of the California Chapter of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators. The exhibit this year will run from April 7th until June 3rd. This is a sample of my work from the show.

I was Walkabout in Zambia about a year ago, it’s what started this blog actually. Only I never released the book that I wrote on that trip. It’s fun to share a bit of that, now that the work that it inspired has become this blog. This picture was drawn in the Zambian Jungle in Kibanza Village.

I am expecting another few newts. One of them was sick, with a pretty big head wound. He’s healing well, but I want to keep the new arrivals quarantined from Newtron. So I’m setting-up yet another tank in my very tiny house. It takes weeks for a tank to cycle, so if all goes well they should be here soonish.

Safe and dry again at home, Newtron is next to me, chirping his approval.

So far Newtron waggles his tail and chirps when he comes up for air. He really surprised us when we first heard him chirping. Who knew newts could chirp? It’s oddly comforting though, I can hear him chirping all night long. It’s reassuring to know he’s still alive and breathing.

Santa Cruz, CA 3/15/12

I spent the day walking and sketching at Muir Woods National Monument with GNSI-CA (http://www.christineelder.com/gnsi_home.html). A park naturalist, Marvin Craiger joined us at the beginning of our walk, and then we disappeared off into a corner to draw trees, ferns, and mushrooms growing on fallen branches. It was wonderful to see my Nor Cal illustrators.  🙂

Arthur and I drove to Los Angeles this weekend to visit friends. It's our friend Tim's birthday. After breakfast at the Old Susana Cafe, we went hiking at Rocky Mountain Natural Park in Simi Valley. The weather was warm and clear. Amongst the rocks, dust and brush we saw two lizards and a rabbit. We sat on a boulder in the shade, I drew this bush and listened to the boys chatting. They were discussing how high speed circuit design is a black magic and FPGA's are the awkward middle ground between hardware and software.

"The first rule about FPGA club is that no one talks to you about FPGA club." -Tim

Simi Valley, CA 2/18/12

The weather is idyllic today. Perfect blue skies, warm sunshine… I took a break from jerry-rigging a filter for Legolas’s tank to get an establishing shot of the forest.